Supporters
and
opponents
of
same-sex
marriage
called
this
week's
California
Supreme
Court
decision
nullifying
San
Francisco's
marriage
licenses
a
minor
prelude
to
bigger
battles
at
the
ballot
box.
Both
social
conservatives
and
gay
rights
groups
say
their
debate
is
becoming
increasingly
intertwined
with
the
presidential
election.Social
conservatives
have
argued
for
months
that
voters,
not
judges,
should
ultimately
settle
the
issue
of
legal
recognition
for
gay
couples.
They
have
organized
to
put
constitutional
amendments
blocking
same-sex
marriages
on
the
ballots
in
a
dozen
states
this
fall,
including
the
pivotal
swing
states
of
Oregon,
Michigan
and
Ohio.
And
after
the
strong
turnout
in
support
of
a
similar
measure
in
Missouri
on
Aug.
3,
some
conservative
strategists
said
that
the
referendums
could
help
President
Bush
by
motivating
traditionalists
to
vote.
"It
could
well
be
what
swings
the
election,"
said
Grover
Norquist,
a
strategist
close
to
the
Bush
campaign.Phil
Burress,
a
veteran
organizer
who
is
working
to
amend
the
Ohio
Constitution,
said
a
California
ruling
in
favor
of
same-sex
marriage
might
actually
have
helped
his
efforts
even
more.
"What
really
would
have
fired
us
up
is
if
it
had
been
a
decision
that
would
have
been
more
judicial
tyranny,"
Mr.
Burress
said.
"When
we
win
one,
it
doesn't
fire
us
up.
It
surprises
us
that
the
judges
got
it
right.
We
high-fived
for
a
couple
of
minutes
around
the
office
and
then
we
went
back
to
work."But
in
a
shift
from
their
previous
strategy,
some
gay
rights
groups
fighting
the
amendments
banning
same-sex
marriage
said
yesterday
that
they,
too,
would
use
advertisements
aimed
at
making
the
debate
an
issue
in
the
presidential
election.
Cheryl
Jacques,
executive
director
of
the
Human
Rights
Campaign,
one
of
the
main
groups
fighting
for
gay
marriage,
said
the
group
plans
to
argue
in
advertising
campaigns
in
Ohio
and
other
swing
states
that
the
Bush
campaign
and
its
allies
are
orchestrating
the
marriage
amendment
efforts
in
order
to
distract
voters
from
other
issues.
"There
is
a
single
puppet
master
behind
these
efforts,
and
that
is
George
W.
Bush
and
his
allies,"
Ms.
Jacques
said
in
an
interview.
"They
will
try
to
make
this
an
issue,
and
are
going
to
remind
people
what
they
already
know,
that
most
people
don't
wake
up
in
the
morning
thinking
about
gay
and
lesbian
marriage
or
any
gay
issue.
They
wake
up
in
the
morning
thinking
about
jobs
and
health
care
and
the
war
in
Iraq."To
suggest
that
Mr.
Bush's
campaign
is
behind
the
state
initiatives,
advocates
of
same-sex
marriage
have
pointed
to
a
letter
that
Ken
Blackwell,
a
Republican
who
is
secretary
of
state
of
Ohio,
wrote
to
his
supporters
saying
that
the
Bush
campaign
had
asked
him
to
support
the
state's
amendment.
Representatives
of
Mr.
Blackwell
and
Mr.
Bush
did
not
dispute
the
letter.But
Mr.
Burress
said
Republican
leaders
in
Ohio
had
initially
resisted
his
efforts
to
put
the
amendment
on
the
ballot.
Some
conservatives
contended
that
accusing
Mr.
Bush
of
fighting
same-sex
marriage
would
help
him
and
hurt
Mr.
Kerry,
the
Democratic
candidate.
In
the
Missouri
election,
gay
rights
groups
spent
$450,000
and
their
opponents
only
$19,000.
The
turnout
was
twice
as
high
as
in
a
typical
state
primary
and
the
amendment
to
ban
gay
marriage
passed
with
71
percent
support.
"I
would
think
the
Kerry
campaign
would
want
to
talk
to
the
Human
Rights
Campaign,"
said
Gary
Bauer,
a
candidate
for
the
Republican
presidential
nomination
in
2000
and
founder
of
the
organization
American
Values.
"If
I
am
for
marriage
between
a
man
and
a
women,
then
I
should
vote
for
George
Bush.
I
think
that
is
the
last
message
Senator
John
Kerry
wants
to
be
connected
with
in
the
minds
of
voters."Steve
Schmidt,
a
spokesman
for
the
Bush
campaign,
said:
"The
president
has
made
his
position
clear,
that
he
believes
the
institution
of
marriage
should
be
preserved.
This
issue
was
forced
on
the
country
by
a
group
of
activist
judges,
and
states
across
the
country
have
measures
on
the
ballot
for
the
fall
election
which
will
preserve
the
institution
of
marriage,
and
voters
will
let
their
voices
be
heard."Some
Democrats
argued
that
the
ballot
measures
might
not
damage
Mr.
Kerry.
Phil
Singer,
a
spokesman
for
Mr.
Kerry,
said
Mr.
Kerry
also
opposed
same-sex
marriage,
although
he
opposed
amending
the
federal
Constitution
to
ban
same-sex
unions.
"John
Kerry
believes
a
marriage
is
between
a
man
and
a
woman
but
doesn't
think
that
the
Constitution
should
be
used
as
a
way
to
divide
the
country,"
Mr.
Singer
said.Celinda
Lake,
a
Democratic
pollster
who
has
worked
for
the
Human
Rights
Campaign,
argued
that
the
Bush
campaign's
support
for
the
amendments
could
backfire.
"Voters
will
say
this
is
not
the
priority
right
now,"
she
said.
"The
issue
here
is
Iraq
and
the
economy,
not
gay
marriage.
They
are
using
this
to
distract
and
deflect
from
their
failures
on
Iraq
and
the
economy.
Which
are
you
more
worried
about?"Of
the
three
swing
states
where
same-sex
marriage
amendments
are
likely
to
appear
on
the
ballot,
Ms.
Lake
argued,
Ohio
was
the
only
one
where
it
might
make
a
difference.
She
argued
that
the
amendment
was
not
very
popular
in
Oregon
and
that
Mr.
Kerry
could
carry
Michigan
by
turning
out
voters
among
traditionally
Democratic
groups
like
union
members
and
African-Americans.
"Ohio
is
a
different
story,"
Ms.
Lake
said.
"It
is
very
close
and
it
could
have
an
impact
there."
Both
sides
of
the
marriage
battle
say
they
plan
to
step
up
their
efforts
as
the
election
nears.
Tony
Perkins,
president
of
the
conservative
Family
Research
Council,
said
opponents
of
same-sex
marriage
were
relying
on
like-minded
churches
to
turn
out
their
members,
just
as
they
did
in
Missouri.
On
Sept.
19,
he
and
other
well-known
conservative
Christians
will
hold
their
third
national
telecast
to
churches
around
the
country
this
year
to
discuss
the
issue.They
will
speak
from
the
First
Baptist
Church
of
Springdale,
Ark.
The
organization
Americans
United
for
Separation
of
Church
and
State
has
argued
that
the
church
violated
the
requirements
of
its
tax-exempt
status
by
engaging
in
politics.Gay
groups,
meanwhile,
are
continuing
to
press
their
case
in
courts.
Last
week,
a
court
in
Washington
State
ruled
in
favor
of
a
same-sex
couple's
right
to
marry,
setting
the
stage
for
an
appeals
battle
there.
Other
cases
are
pending
in
state
courts
in
New
Jersey
and
Oregon,
and
a
Constitutional
challenge
is
under
way
in
federal
court
in
Florida.
Another
case
is
pending
in
California,
too.
The
court's
ruling
this
week
addressed
only
the
procedural
matter
of
whether
the
mayor
of
San
Francisco
could
issue
marriage
licenses.
Another
case
working
its
way
through
the
court
system
will
settle
the
underlying
issue
of
same-sex
marriage
rights
under
the
state
Constitution,
but
that
case
could
take
years
to
resolve.Still,
Jordan
Lorence,
a
lawyer
with
the
Alliance
Defense
Fund,
a
socially
conservative
legal
group
that
has
filed
briefs
in
many
of
the
cases,
argued
that
court
victories
for
same-sex
marriage
were
unlikely
to
settle
much.
Even
in
Massachusetts,
he
said,
opponents
were
still
trying
to
change
the
state
Constitution.
"The
final
decision
is
going
to
be
made
by
the
voters,"
he
said.